Name: How to Kill Your Family
ISBN: 9780008365912

Bella Mackie

Cosmopolitan's best books of 2021 Grazia's best books of 2021

How to Kill Your Family

Eleanor Lockwood

rowanna 

Rina

Elena Menendez

Oliwia Prokorym 

Gemma McCarthy

Red flag! All Amy’s are psychos, is this book a sign 😂

Amy Manson

‘My name's Amy’ I say smiling, 'and I’d definitely be up for mixing it up for a while.’

Jels

Occam's Razor - the theory that the simplest answer is usually the correct one

… she wasn't very nice. Id go further, actually. She appeared to be a total cunt. A great word, it can be enunciated in several different ways to convey varying ferocity and it perfectly encapsulates so many people.

Nina May

This murder, more than the others, might make one feel increasingy uneasy. I understand killing the rotten old grandparents but this girl is so young, they probably have more in common than that which divides them. But this is not a story about reconnecting with fahily. This is not a tale where anyone finds out that they have a whole bunch of relatives waiting to embrace them. And I am not a damaged bird, who desperately wants such shelter. What I want is these people gone.

Charlotte 

My story is just that - mine - though I know readers would lap it up if I ever published it - not that I ever could. But it's nice to know that people would pore over it nonetheless. It would be a best seller, and the masses would rush to the shops, hoping to know more about the attractive and tragic young woman who could commit such a terrible act. 

I expect growing up relying on just one person means that I need more information than a normal person when it comes to trust.

What a generous man my uncle was. In just twenty minutes, he'd given me a free drink, and a lead on how to kill him. Who says the ultra-rich don't help the needy?

Cosmopolitan’s best books of 2021 Grazia’s best books of 2021 ‘Funny and furious and strangely uplifting. Grace is a bitter and beguiling anti-hero with a keen eye for social analysis – even in her most grisly deeds, you never stop rooting for her’ PANDORA SYKES

Grace is one of the most unlikeable protagonists I have encountered in recent memory, and I mean that as a compliment to Bella Mackie.

The premise is exactly what it sounds like. Grace, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man who never acknowledged her, decides to systematically kill off his entire family to claim what she believes is rightfully hers. She is intelligent, calculating, and absolutely insufferable in the best possible way. She has opinions about everything and everyone, all of them withering, most of them funny, and none of them particularly kind.

The wit is the book's greatest strength. Mackie writes Grace's internal monologue with a sharpness that had me laughing out loud repeatedly. The funniest moments come from Grace's absolute conviction in her own superiority and her complete inability to be impressed by anyone. At a party, a man confesses his kink for choking and traces it back, with great seriousness, to nearly drowning in the family pool as a child. Grace listens, looks pointedly at his wedding ring, and delivers: "Does your wife indulge? I assume she'd like to choke you occasionally." She means it completely. He laughs because men often laugh with surprise when they find women funny, as though it's a skill they're not expected to possess. Mackie gets two jokes out of one exchange and makes both land.

Where the book loses me is in the believability of the central conceit. Multiple deaths within one family, all written off as accidents, with no investigative thread pulling them together, strains credibility past the point of suspension of disbelief. The victims' families are largely absent as a concern. For a book this intelligent in its prose, the plot mechanics feel underdeveloped.

Grace's behavior at Jimmy's engagement was the moment her internal logic broke down in a way that felt like a writing inconsistency rather than a character flaw. She had just finished explaining how she kept him at arm's length because her mission came first. Her reaction to his engagement contradicts that entirely, and it stands out precisely because the rest of Grace's reasoning, however twisted, holds together.

The pacing also suffers from over-explanation in places. Grace has a tendency to over-narrate her own thinking, which slows the book down where momentum matters most.

The ending is unexpected, slightly over the top, and fits the book perfectly. Anticlimactic in a way that suits Grace exactly.

The case for why the cousin and uncle needed to die alongside Simon's immediate family never fully lands. It feels like the body count expanding for its own sake rather than because the story required it.

Funny, sharp, and occasionally its own worst enemy. Grace is a villain you laugh at rather than root for, which is exactly the right register for this book.

Michelle Dsouza

Grace is one of the most unlikeable protagonists I have encountered in recent memory, and I mean that as a compliment to Bella Mackie.

The premise is exactly what it sounds like. Grace, the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy man who never acknowledged her, decides to systematically kill off his entire family to claim what she believes is rightfully hers. She is intelligent, calculating, and absolutely insufferable in the best possible way. She has opinions about everything and everyone, all of them withering, most of them funny, and none of them particularly kind.

The wit is the book's greatest strength. Mackie writes Grace's internal monologue with a sharpness that had me laughing out loud repeatedly. The funniest moments come from Grace's absolute conviction in her own superiority and her complete inability to be impressed by anyone. At a party, a man confesses his kink for choking and traces it back, with great seriousness, to nearly drowning in the family pool as a child. Grace listens, looks pointedly at his wedding ring, and delivers: "Does your wife indulge? I assume she'd like to choke you occasionally." She means it completely. He laughs because men often laugh with surprise when they find women funny, as though it's a skill they're not expected to possess. Mackie gets two jokes out of one exchange and makes both land.

Where the book loses me is in the believability of the central conceit. Multiple deaths within one family, all written off as accidents, with no investigative thread pulling them together, strains credibility past the point of suspension of disbelief. The victims' families are largely absent as a concern. For a book this intelligent in its prose, the plot mechanics feel underdeveloped.

Grace's behavior at Jimmy's engagement was the moment her internal logic broke down in a way that felt like a writing inconsistency rather than a character flaw. She had just finished explaining how she kept him at arm's length because her mission came first. Her reaction to his engagement contradicts that entirely, and it stands out precisely because the rest of Grace's reasoning, however twisted, holds together.

The pacing also suffers from over-explanation in places. Grace has a tendency to over-narrate her own thinking, which slows the book down where momentum matters most.

The ending is unexpected, slightly over the top, and fits the book perfectly. Anticlimactic in a way that suits Grace exactly.

The case for why the cousin and uncle needed to die alongside Simon's immediate family never fully lands. It feels like the body count expanding for its own sake rather than because the story required it.

Funny, sharp, and occasionally its own worst enemy. Grace is a villain you laugh at rather than root for, which is exactly the right register for this book.

i hate that i put this book off for so long, because this was SO FUN! i could not stop reading it! would recommend if you like women doing crimes

Stas

crazt fun title and idea. boring execution.

Tali ⋆.˚🦋༘⋆

Riveting and funny, with creative murders. Shame the ending feels abrupt and unsatisfying :( 

Jack B Rosie

Contrary to popular view, I enjoyed the lengthy descriptions of the creative murders - I felt that the class criticism was necessary to understand how diabolical the Artemises were. As for the ending, though unpleasant, was realistic. 

Lindy

Thoroughly enjoyed however I wish the ending had been a bit different. Found the author to be humorous and found pleasure in the writing style. 

Tricia K

I finally went back and finished this. It was ok, an interesting idea just a bit one note in delivery and faded away towards the end.

Emma Cragg

I had to read this for school and i did enjoy it but not as much as i thought i would. The book was mostly boring even though it was about murder 🥲 it did have a good plottwist at the end though

Femke

mimansa 

Don't want to start rambling and go off track about the book but the Author clearly does so. After the first two chapters you realize the plot of the story and continue to read so as to know it in a detailed manner. But to want to know the whys, hows and wheres in this story, the readers have to go through a jungle of unwanted obsrvations and irrelevant information. At a point, the wheres and hows weren't even worth reading through the long unwanted chapters. 
Overall, the plot of the story is intriguing, but the writing really put me off ://

Interesting plot, pretty dark, but was kind of disappointed by the ending. The first 3/4 of the book from Grace’s perspective were pretty good, but the ending was kinda meh. Not bad, but could’ve ended in a more thrilling manner.

Erin Goss

Archiell

How to kill your family mais para how to Waste your time?

Duas estrelas porque o início foi algo de jeito depois não sabia se estava a ler um livro sobre um murder ou um livro do Eça de Queiroz (as 74 páginas a descrever uma sala fora mais interessantes)

Syahla Aurel

where do i start, the first chapter and the early murder was okay and enjoyable, but when she starts planning to murder her uncle is kinda WEIRD LIKE WHY WOULD YOU GO TO THAT KIND OF PLACE WITH YOUR UNCLE??? 
the ending was very anticlimatic, not surprising, and confusing, like there were no important hint about her secret brother in the early chapter?? like her brother is just suddenly there? and the very long chapter was very painful to read
overall, the beginning chapter was very promising but the next chapter went downhill

First half of the book was at least interesting, the premise, the introduction of characters, her motivation why she wants to kill her family. But the second half and that plot twist in the end was just so infuriating. People who gave this book more than 1 star are beyond generous.

Ziggy

u wanna be light yagami with an essay due in 2 hours so bad.. dont piss me off

The title of the book was the main thing that drew me to reading this book it’s very British and there’s a lot of long chapters which I’m not necessarily a fan of but the plot was good I feel like then end bit where her brother sends her an email where he knows and has witnessed all her murders was very unexpected.

Hana 

jess larry

life's too short to force myself to finish this. way too many unnecessary rants, and the narration style is really not for me

2 stars just for the idea

short review: 

bizarre, grating, and violently british. i can't tell if the ending makes up for it or makes it worse.

long review: 

it had such an interesting premise, but the narrative style was grating. not necessarily the views of the fmc, because good for her honestly, but the diction and sentence structure were truly abominable. and the fact that the fmc presented herself as a woman's rights activist but spent the entire book harassing women without analyzing their choices in the context of a patriarchal society. this would perhaps make sense as satire of the self-absorption of white feminism, but the author is apparently both white and a part of british peerage, so take from that what you will. also, the fmc was presented as an intelligent, competent woman and killer to boot, so the entire idea of her putting her confession on paper is utterly ridiculous, made more so by her being bested by a man at the end. i will, however, say it was quite funny at times.

2½ stars

A promising storyline and concept but VERY long chapters. I cannot deal with long chapters (that might just be personally but I found myself flicking forward multiple times to see how many pages were left). Some good moments and interesting characters but pretty bad ending… Maybe pick it up if you are a fast reader but for someone like me who takes a while it was sometimes a chore.

George McCartney

Bilge Ince

Dark, humorous and witty. All I need for this October.

Grace is an inmate in the Limehouse prison for a murder she didn’t commit. But was she really innocent? Yes, for this alleged murder, but no for many others. And this is the story of why and how…

 How awful it must be to know in your bones that those around you were being picked off one by one and to realise that you must therefore be next. Even worse, it seemed like nobody was listening to him – a terrible thing for a powerful white man to experience.

I feel like this took me a while to read this book and the start was very slow. However the ending was good and has left me feeling confused lol so overall 3.5/5

Marcie Allen

3.5⭐️

I feel like this took me a while to read this book and the start was very slow. However the ending was good and has left me feeling confused lol so overall 3.5/5

Teeeeeesha

Funny, dark and twisted, this is everything you want in a book. It's well written, off kilter but not in a way that you don't know what's going on. You're gonna love Grace getting her revenge.

Emmm :p

SO FUNNY. it takes bloody ages to get through because Grace feels the need to state and express every single thought she has and it really made me struggle. i read it on a plane from Corfu to Exeter and I still didn’t finish. i continued on a train from Bath to Exeter (and back) and still didn’t finish. it is LONG but it is fun!! i would like to see it as a tv series

A Novel

Not my cup of tea. Honestly Grace is ultimatly so unlikeable. She's so fixated on getting her vengeance and so immersed that I just could not stand her. And also, I'm so disgusting by how she murder's people who in my moral view just do not deserve it, and how she debates murdering completely innocent people just make me think what the hell. I really do not think this book was what I was expecting, I wanted better and it was such a let down especially because people have really enjoyed this book. 

I think this book would however be liked by people who are getting into reading, beginners, people who haven't read alot of books. They won't have any expectations or ideas of how a books plot should be structured or anything, so they would go into this book completely blind, and can then have an unbiased view of this book. 

The reason why I gave it 2 stars is because I do respect the whole idea Bella Mackie has, and i respect the beginning of this book and the ending, i feell like they are very hugely influential to this rating.

surtified™

Not my cup of tea. Honestly Grace is ultimatly so unlikeable. She's so fixated on getting her vengeance and so immersed that I just could not stand her. And also, I'm so disgusting by how she murder's people who in my moral view just do not deserve it, and how she debates murdering completely innocent people just make me think what the hell. I really do not think this book was what I was expecting, I wanted better and it was such a let down especially because people have really enjoyed this book. 

I think this book would however be liked by people who are getting into reading, beginners, people who haven't read alot of books. They won't have any expectations or ideas of how a books plot should be structured or anything, so they would go into this book completely blind, and can then have an unbiased view of this book. 

The reason why I gave it 2 stars is because I do respect the whole idea Bella Mackie has, and i respect the beginning of this book and the ending, i feell like they are very hugely influential to this rating.